Royal Floria Putrajaya a boon for federal administrative capital

PUTRAJAYA: The Putrajaya Flower and Royal Garden festival or Royal Floria Putrajaya 2018 which ended yesterday is the best branding to lift Putrajaya as a world destination for flower and garden festivals, said Federal Territories Minister Khalid Abdul Samad.

He said the Floria is not just a flower show festival but has created economic and business opportunities for entrepreneurs.

“It also stimulates the growth of the flower, landscaping and tourism industries,” he said at the closing and prize presentation ceremony of Royal Floria Putrajaya 2018 here yesterday.

The festival was opened by the Sultan of Selangor Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah on Aug 25 and ends after midnight last night after being held for nine days.

Khalid added that the festival has recorded its own unique history with activities for the whole family as it was organised during the National Day 2018 celebration.

Meanwhile, Putrajaya Floria Sdn Bhd chief executive officer Haslinda Khalid when met said as expected, most visitors choose to visit on Aug 31 after the National Day 2018 parade and procession event here.

“However, I could not state the actual number of visitors on the day yet as some data has yet to be updated,” she said.

The Terengganu State Secretary's Office won big on their first participation in the Royal Floria Putrajaya when they bagged four awards.

It included the main award, Garden Prime Award where they received the Royal Floria Putrajaya trophy with a cash prize of RM15,000.

They also won the Gardens of Malaysia award with RM5,000 cash while Laman Sri Terengganu designer, Syamsul Syahiran Mohd Samsuddin grabbed the Best Designer award.

Another award won by Terengganu was the Most Popular Garden Award based on online voting by visitors.

The Laman Sri Terengganu project coordinator, Wan Muzamir Wan Arif, said he was inspired by designs of Terengganu's old palaces and wanted to introduce their architecture to the public.